a horse racing accident at a bay area track leaves a jockey injure tonight paralyzed from the waist down. good evening i'm frank somerville. >> and i'm julie somerville. one of california's top jock keu, michael martinez is

hospitalized tonight, just 24 years old. jana katsuyama is at the hospital with his story. >> reporter: martinez is still in intensive care at the hospital. what is so amazing is that he is still alive. even after this fall that easily could have killed him. michael martinez was riding number seven. martinez 24 only started racing four years ago but has already won 162 races, a rising star on the fast track to becoming one of the nation's top jockeys. >> there's a problem going into the turn. >> reporter: but sunday as he was rounding a turn at some 35- miles-an-hour, his horse clipped the heels of another horse. martinez was thrown to the ground. and his philly rolled over him.

the track physician got to him first. >> he was unconscious, he was barely breathing, he has a mouth full of dirt. he broke all the ribs alongside that area. had bleeding into his lungs as well as a mayor head injury. >> reporter: friends and family gather today, martinez was a well liked jock keu who just minutes before the accident had ridden in race 14 and won. >> horses just responded. he got the most out of horses during the race. he was just a rising star. >> reporter: a star also about to be a father. his fiance charlotte is due to have their first child in just two weeks. family and friends just hope martinez will recover with no regrets. his cousin, alex solis says martinez did give his all to the sport he loves so much. >> he accomplished a lot of the

things he wanted to do. and life goes on. >> reporter: and although he's paralyzed from the waste down, martinez did regain consciousness today, opened his eyes and spoke. even know that he's recovering, the jockey is beating the odds. and now to san bruno after the pipeline explosion. many of the firefighters and police officers say they official think thought they were dealing with a plane crash. in fact, it took 20 minutes before they realized it wasn't a plane that went down which could have meant a much higher death toll. the first responders also said they were worried that more than explosions might occur as they raced to evacuate stunned residents. >> we just got down there as close as we can, and started knocking on doors and forcing

doors open and going out the back door of one particular house feeling the flame that was very, very hot. and just thinking, we just have to start working back up the hill because we're getting too close. >> in fact, they say that fire might have been as hot as 2,000 degrees and it was impossible to fight not only because of its intensity but because the blast destroyed a key water line. >> we tried to open the hydrant and found no water. it's a sinking feeling, because you count on that water to be there. and if there was ever a time to be there, this was the time. as chaotic as things were after the flames, for the first time tapes have been released. what's striking is the tone,

the fear and the urgency of the calls they received. ken wayne is in redwood city with this story. >> reporter: tonight, emergency dispatchers are recalling on the most intense night of their live. >> it looks like we have a plane on the ground. >> reporter: dispatchers were flooded as they feeled calls from the public, they also had to handle calls from first responders and police. >> these callers you could hear the fear. the others were like, did you hear we had an earthquake. this was just horror. >> reporter: even firefighters

sounded different on the lines that night. >> we need an engine with tank water. >> there was more of a sense of urgency. their voices were elevated, concerned. it's frightening to hear people who are normally calm elevated like that. >> reporter: it would be at least an hour before dispatchers knew what they were dealing with. >> i found the location of the gas main explosion. >> reporter: one first responders said she was able to visit the streets where she handled so many calls. >> i experienced many before but none of that magnitude. to be out there and seeing the addresses that were gone of the calls that i took, that was very humbling. >> reporter: dispatched supervisors are still compelling data from that night to see what lessons could be learned. >> looks like we were in the neighborhood of 200, 250% increase in the total call volume into the center. >> reporter: one advantage for

first responders is san mateo county is one of the counties in the country with a integrated system. to dispatchers were able to talk to engines and move them where needed. the san francisco giants pitched in tonight. they are donating $3 for every ticket sold tonight. the mother of giant third baseman pablo sandoval was among those evacuated from their rented house. sandoval says he is now living in a hotel, the giants say they felt compelled to donate. >> we're a community service organization, that's the way we view it. we just can't imagine the heart ache. >> reporter: tonight began with

a ceremony for those killed during the explosion. and more from san bruno is coming up at 10:30, we will talk with residents of the devastated neighborhood to see how they are coping with the disaster. and a controversy about a political candidate, is he using the fire victims to try to win an election. and you can find continuing coverage including more of those dispatched fire tapes. the california governor's race is turning into a war of tv ads. former president bill clinton endorsed jerry brown today saying brown would make an excellent governor. just yesterday, brown was apologizing to clinton after brown made a joke of clinton's

relationship with monica luwinsky. today president clinton made a statement that said, the tough campaign we fought 18 years ago is not relevant. and today jerry released an ad of whitman as pinoccio. and an ad by the teacher's union will not be allowed to be

aired. sarah shourd was released from a tyran prison this morning. this -pl cos among questions of her health and her two companions left behind. one of them her fiance. rita williams reports. >> reporter: it's a bittersweet story still with no end. >> i'm extremely grateful, i feel myself i have a huge debt to repay the world for what it's done for me. >> reporter: sarah shourd walked out of an iranian prison after almost 14 months. then flew on a private jet into the arms of her mother who left berkeley last week. u.s. officials credited aman and it's sultan with forging the deal. perhaps even paying the half million dollars bail. >> i don't think there's any anticipation that sarah will

return to tyran. >> my first duty is to help my fiance and my friend because they don't deserve to be in prison anymore. >> reporter: the three were arrested while they were hiking in the iran, iraq border. >> these are people who did nothing wrong, they are not spies. they are called in a political whirlwind. >> you are happy and sad at the same time. >> we're asking the iranian authorities to continue that show of peace and return the

two boys home. >> reporter: tonight the spokesperson challenged the iranian president to bring the two americans with them when he comes to america last week. pattal and bower now starting their 111th day in prison. lawmakers and the governor create a dilemma for these kids in day care. the deadline some parents are calling a crying shame. and this renovated facility means new jobs. and chief meteorologist  bill martin is tracking the fog and it's

it is now day 76 of california without a budget. that's creating a long list of problems for many parents who say they feel like they're stuck in the middle of a budget stalemate. >> reporter: julie, in just a matter of day the joyful sound of kids climbing, jumping and sliding may no longer be heard at this child development. tonight the center told participants that they are broke because lawmakers are yet to do their job. for working mom teresa johnson

this is her only option. >> reporter: would you be able to afford to put them in day care? >> no, i don't make enough money. >> reporter: but wesley and parents of other students who attend the development center may lose the only place they can afford. it is set to close its two locations in the next two weeks unless there's a budget miracle in sacramento. >> we haven't had any money since june. and so we are at our last. we have no funds. >> reporter: the the center has been providing free or low cost child care to low income families for the last 37 years. founder nina tanner smith says she's never had to close during that time because of finances, but this year is on track to be the longest the state has gone without a budget. >> if it wasn't for 24 hour, my daughter wouldn't be the place where she is. >> reporter: parents of former and current students were brought to tears when they learned of the center's fate at a meeting tonight.

and that the governor who spent the last week in asian. >> what about the kids? the budget is not being passed and our kids can't go to school while he's in china. >> reporter: the center receives $40,000 a month from the state and while parents were here discussing possible fund raising ideas. frank and julie that amount may just be too much to overcome. i'm heather holmes, ktvu channel 2 news. this year's budget could be the latest in state history. september23rd holds that dubious distinction. today a democratic assemblyman from san jose said lawmakers are working on their differences. >> my hope is that we're getting closer and closer. we have to continue to a point that we're so close that it

makes no sense to divide in two and get some answers. governor arnold schwarzenegger is expected to meet with republican and democratic leaders almost immediately. the two sides are divided on tax increases or budget cuts. president obama offered advise and some personal stories to students today in a back to school message. the president told students in fill philadelphia that his mother pushed him to succeed. >> i wasn't always a good student when i was younger. i made my share of mistakes. i still remember a conversation i had with my mother in high school. i was a goof off. >> he told the students nothing will have a greater impact of his chances of success than a solid education. the president said that the scolding of his mother made him a good student. the city is hoping to head off the rail's proposal to put

the speed train on an elevated track way. it wants an underground tunnel today. >> i'm thinking, disney world. they have a monorail. it's elevated, we like it. >> but the authority also doesn't want the city to demand an expensive environment impact report. there was a very positive step, an auto maker that gave up on the bay area came back. >> thank you very much to honda. >> reporter: this newly renovated wear house became

home today to honda's new distribution center. 10,000 new honda vehicles are in the port waiting to get shipped to dealers all over the country. >> it means we have $100 million of revenue over the next 25 years. >> reporter: in the 1970s, honda operated out of this port but closed up shop in the 1990 and shifted operations to san diego. now the auto maker says it will save money by returning to richmond. >> in the past we would truck those vehicles from san diego to hear. we've eliminated $1.5 million truck miles that's not going up the california highways. >> reporter: honda also says it has already provided 200 new jobs. >> it's a big deal for me. >> reporter: how come? >> it helps pay for my mortgage and my truck. >> reporter: 48-year-old michael rant now has a job inspecting honda vehicles at

the port. he had been laid off for nine months. lance is helping to recruit more workers. >> reporter: they're still hiring. >> we're looking for people left and right. >> reporter: 70 miles away, the chamber of commerce hosted an economic summit saying it is focused to lower the city's 18.5 unemployment rate among the highest in the state. >> some of these unemployed people are now turning, coming to the chamber looking to open a small business. we've increased our opportunities for business counseling at the chamber. >> reporter: residents say this new honda facility won'tsoever all of richmond's problems but say it's an important first step in the right direction. at the port of richmond, amber lee, ktvu channel 2 news. and it was slightly warmer today, the fog burned back to the coast. the sun came out. tomorrow the fog is there

again. it burns off more rapidly. a warmer day tomorrow by two or three degrees. we have rain in the point five day. first we talk about the fog that is pushing into your neighborhood. temperatures upper 40s, low 50s. burns back to the coast by midday. up into the low 80s as you head into the afternoon hours. here's your forecast map and you will see, 90s are well to the east of us. most areas will be in the 70s and low 80s. coming up, i'll show you the five day forecast and in that five day forecast, we have some rain. >> the santa cruz board of supervisors voted unanimously to impose a moratorium on those smart meters but only on the unincorporated areas and just until the end of the year. a fatal boating accident on

the bay. who authorities say was on board and what the boat ran into. more san bruno residents came back tonight to see introducing the samsung fascinate powered by verizon. super amoled screen. six-axis 3d gaming and access to thousands of free apps.

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but it was the service that really made me a happy camper... er...ex-camper. call 888-4-mercury or visit mercuryinsurance.com to get a fast, free quote and start saving today. gold hit a record high price today. in new york the price of an ounceover gold closed at $1,271.70. for some perspective, 10 years ago gold was trading at about $250 an ounce. stocks closed mix on wall street today as a september rally faltered. news of production in europe worried investors. the nasdaq was up a little more

than four, the dow was down 17. the yield is expected to be between one and 2%. shares of the san jose based networking giant rose more than 3% on the news. don perrata perhaps the most well phone candidate for mayor came under attack. a few of them got together in front of city hall. protesters also gathered at the news conference in support of terrance candell who says he was not invited. a richmond man drowned today shortly after settling out on -- after setting out on a fishing trip in the bay. four men, two fathers and their sons were heading out on the 25- foot boat to try to catch some

tuna. the fathers were thrown into the water and inspite of the efforts of their sons to save both, one man identified as 71- year-old ronald reed ended up dying. the survivors said none of the men was wearing a life vest. oakland police are looking for a missing teenager. anyone who may know her where abouts is asked to call oakland police. a rumors sick out by san francisco nummi riders appears to be just that, a rumor. three drivers called in sick this morning. last weekend anonymous fliers surfaced the áf calling for a sick out today. union officials said they knew

nothing of a sick out. lieutenant governor able maldonad [ male announcer it's ram truck season.

and the 60-day handshake lives on, that five-finger bond that communicates trust, honor, follow-through, and follow-up.

it's a promise that says go ahead and buy a ram 1500 or a heavy duty without a payment for 60 days. and if it doesn't do everything you ask it to do... bring it back. ram. own a single san bruno street, clairmont drive the fire destroyed 17 homes. some families who's homes survived there are back in them tonight. and many say the horrific images of what happened there last thursday night are still vivid in their minds. ktvu's lloyd lacuesta talked to

some of those families and join us right now. >> reporter: here on clairmont drive you will see homes like these, hardly touched. and just across the street, rubble. >> i am holding back tears because i don't want to keep crying about it. but it was hard. just because it was a lot of hard work and dedication to making the house our home and it being taken away from us in a matter of minutes. >> reporter: tovar says she will never forget the mans she saw as she fled. >> i just saw tons of flames and smoke, debris flying everywhere. fire balls flying everywhere. i remember two fire balls hitting my car and made holes in it. >> reporter: a family across

the street still have their home, but the memories came back. as they left they helped to stop a woman burns on the street then firefighters arrived. >> they nearly pushed us into the truck, they said you're leaving. we didn't want to leave the woman that was burned, she was burned from top to bottom. >> reporter: people were cleaning up homes that survived. >> we feel very grateful but guilty at the same time for our neighbors. >> i'm traumatized from it because i was there to see it. i seen literally everything happening, everything go down. i was lucky to make it out. >> reporter: the national transportation safety board says tonight of the 90 e-mails they have received so far only one person reported smelling

gas before the explosion. live in san bruno, lloyd lacuesta. lieutenant governor able maldonado has been the most visible city leader at the explosion site. >> reporter: republican lieutenant governor able maldonado signed a new ordnance to help jack lindon square. normally only governors do such things but with governor arnold schwarzenegger in japan on a trade mission, maldonado is acting governor and with arnold schwarzenegger consent he signed several feel good bills. >> it is really amazing what you can accomplish when you have partnership in government. >> reporter: partnership or gift?

>> i think the governor said i think i can help you advance you a bit and give you some air time. >> reporter: maldonado needs air time to advance in the race against gavin newsom. and ever since the san bruno explosions he's been there. >> it's a great opportunity for maldonato to show that she is a caring person. >> reporter: i don't think maldonado would have rushed over there would he not been running for office. >> i could have shown up two days later and not taken for people of san bruno and then they would have been written,

maldonado doesn't show up. >> he wonders whether your appearance will show up in your campaign? >> i'm not going to use san bruno as a campaign ad, absolutely not. >> reporter: and maldonado said, in times like these, we should set politics aside and focus on what we can do to help the people of san bruno. california's new senator is asking for more scrutiny of the pipelines. senator boxer says an inspection of almost 12,000 miles of state regulated pipelines is not enough. >> senator feinstein and i are making sure that at the federal level where we have a responsibility, that there's an immediate inspection of any pipeline that's an interstate

pipeline that the federal government regulate, especially look at those that are close to residential areas. boxer says any investigation into the cause of the san bruno explosion must be transparent so the public learns exactly how it happened. just days after the san bruno explosion, pg & e and two other utility companies said they want consumers cover what insurance won't. >> cost of insurance has gone up significantly and the amount of insurance coverage that the insurance companies are making available to the utilities has gone down significantly. so it's created a gap. >> they are proposing that rate payers insure risks that the insurance companies are unwilling to insure. >> reporter: right now the puc can order rate payers to cover

those costs on an incident by incident basis. but the new rule would make it permenant and retroactive. leland yee says he's introducing a bill to give people who's homes that were damaged a property tax inception and to allow them to deduct any amount lost in income. new meaning tonight to going green. the color coding on seafood that is coming to a grocery store near you. i'll tell you which days this week you ú

our real national pastime?

saving money. and like baseball people love their stats. i started bringing my lunch to work -- 50 bucks a week in my pocket. here's a good one: state farm insures 40 million drivers. more than geico and progressive combined. i saved because i'm accident-free. of course, with so many ways to save including discounts of up to 40%, having that many customers shouldn't be a surprise. so ask a neighbor about state farm, then call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online.

a major food chain has starred color coating fish to let people know which fish are abundant and which are not. green means they are abundant . the monterey bay aquarium helped create the system. and officers searched every level, they found nothing suspicious. this past weekend the head of france's counter espionage said the risk of a terror attack has

never been higher. and palestinian and israeli presidents met with secretary hillary clinton. the pelestinians have threat en to walk away from talks if the moratorium is lifted. flood waters are threatening the taj mahal. the water keeps rising. the security workers erected barricades to keep tourists away. the taj mahal was erected isn't the 1600s. near the south bay a coalition of immigrants rights group says it will organize an aggressive get out the vote campaign to influence the november election. >> we will be phone banking and precinct walking for the next two months every weekend and

during the week also. >> the group calls itself immigrants vote. they stood outside the city council to rally. organizers say almost four out of every 10 registered voters in the country are immigrants. the economic downturns has hit veterans especially hard. the jobless rate among vets is as high as 21%. in san francisco today, the organization held its third annual veterans career fair to help address the problem. >> the thing that veterans have going for them is that they've served their country. so employers like what they have going for them. their responsibility and their willingness to work.

new information from congressional investigators suggests salmonella may have been found at egg farms two years ago. salmonella may have been in hen houses as far back as two years ago. however the tests were not done on the eggs themselves. yusef bey iv, the former leader of oakland's oakland bakery and his associate are accused of murdering chauncey bailey and two others. bey and mackey want their trials moved because news coverage will prevent them from getting a fair trial in oakland. an u owi stgoth n csechkint al?ye cckhiou

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the state fish and game department wants to know why 700 acres of wetlands in solano county were pumped dry. fish and game has launched a criminal investigation. investigators suspect a contractor for chevron illegally pumped water out of the wetlands on lower wheeler island last week to perform work on a natural gas pipeline. at least 1,500 fish have been left to rot. the natural habitat for bids and other wildlife have been destroyed. the cost of alcohol in san francisco is on the verge of going up. today the city supervisors voted on a tax hike. it's not a done deal just yet, but even though, it has some

business owners very concerned. david stevenson has our concern. >> reporter: san francisco board of supervisors today approved new fees for liquor sales distributors. >> 35-cents for a gallon of beer. a gallon of spirits or hard liquor will be charged at $3.20. >> reporter: the goal is to recover $16 million in unreimbursed costs the city spends only ambulances, -- spends on ambulances, dui arrests and other services. >> people that are coming out are drinking and eating less because they have less money to spend. >> reporter: the owners of mike liquor worry customers will drive to daily city to buy booze. >> there's no encouragement for them to pick up a case of beer in san francisco and take it home when they can go down the

street to their local store. >> reporter: but supporters say it will help clean up the street and improve night life for all. >> this is good for small business, it is good for our business strip. it'll cut down on enibriation. >> reporter: supporters of the bill have asked mayor newsom to recuse himself because he has a part in a winery. the wildfire in current

county today grew and firefighters have not been able to gain ground on it. 4,000acres burned today, fire officials say it's only 10% contained the same as yesterday. the fire is located on the southern end of the secoia forest. fire crews expect full containment by friday. all right, i've been talking about this weather system. here it is now sitting offshore. if you've been around the bay area in any amount of time. you know this isn't the type of system you see this time of year. the main impact is going to be northern california. we're on a southern end of the impact cell. but late in the week, we could see sprinkles and even showers. let's go to the forecast for tomorrow which will include more fog. tomorrow looks like today but a few degrees warmer. the weather headline has to be that we have showers in the bay area forecast. certainly in the north bay as we head into friday and

saturday as well. the forecast highs tomorrow, we're going to see lots of 80s in the inland bay valleys. and we're going see high pressure holding up for three more days. we'll see plenty of fog low 60s. and sunny out in antioch and evergreen and temperatures in the low 80s. that's your forecast for basically, yes, today, tomorrow and then thursday. then it all changes. the whole deal goes away. the high pressure breaks down. and the computer model shows us what we have coming our way. here we are friday afternoon, here we are about lunchtime. you see showers showing up around there, north bay. you see right about saturday it regroups again. it's a long way out. you watch the computer models and you see how they respond. they all start coming together just a little bit. so let's keep an eye on it. right now the real eye of this

storm appears to be friday afternoon into saturday afternoon. so your forecast tomorrow, we have plenty of fog and low clouds that will push inland tonight. it's already happening in richmond, it's happening now as we head into tomorrow, we'll see the fog burn down to the coast. temperatures mostly in the low 80s tomorrow. your forecast highs, 84 in fairfield. 72 in richmond, 82 in livermore, 82 in pleasantton and forecast highs around the area. certainly a little warmer than they were today. your five day forecast, you'll take a peak and you will see it includes shower activity on saturday. i think most of us will see showers as we head into sunday night. >> the picture there looks like a lot of sprinkles in that graphic. >> yeah. >> thanks, bill. well it appears tonight that the new american idol

judge is j.lo. several entertainment news outlets are reporting that jennifer lopez has signed up to be the new american idol judge. j.lo has not confirmed that. the giants, padres and ro our real national pastime?

saving money. and like baseball people love their stats. i started bringing my lunch to work -- 50 bucks a week in my pocket. here's a good one: state farm insures 40 million drivers. more than geico and progressive combined. i saved because i'm accident-free. of course, with so many ways to save including discounts of up to 40%, having that many customers shouldn't be a surprise.

so ask a neighbor about state farm, then call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online. mark joins joins us now with sports, barry zito just can't get a break. >> it's hard to pin anything on him tonight. but you remember 49ers fans used to have a quarterback as jebol, and the coach used to say, just enough to lose. and that's what they can say about zito today. hard to say who it is there that wants get cozy with posey. but whatever. giants one all night.

juan uribe errorred with the bases loaded. hard to get on uribe who played good ball all year. and first ever complete game for him in the major legal. and there's his complete game. get this in three of the last four games, the giants have been involved in they have been 1-0 final scores, they have been on the short end twice. everybody keeps counting the padres out except themselves. the rockies always come back. san diego up only 7-6 in the ninth. eric young hits into a double play to end it and the padres keep on winning 7-6 in colorado. no matter how you flame the play off pictures -- you frame

out the play off picture. a game and a half high from the atlanta braves who also lost tonight. to sense of urgency at all surrounding the a's game. as they stick all proof into a shredder. a home run, a two run shot for kansas city rookie mike aviles hit a three run shot off gio gonzalez who has been pitching well off late. bringing wiston. not a good night for the oakland a's in kc. injuries and football never a surprise, but that doesn't ease the pain. green bay picked by many to represent the nfc in the super bowl but they won't do it.

ryan grant first game of the year last sunday, he wrenches his ankle against philly today declared out for the season. tests show severe ligament damage. green bay will shut him down for the year rather than risking him coming back too soon. class move by reggie move. he gives back his heisman trophy today saying the scandal over improper gifts he receive should not taint that award. that's the sports life for a tuesday night. >> so it'll just be empty in the record books? >> yeah, it'll be a big blank. >> they're not going to give it to the second person. >> no, that would be vince young from texas. tonight there's no call on doing that. >> too bad for barry zito.

good job like you said. >> he's paid to win. bottom line. what are you going to do. >> mark, thank you. that is our report for tonight. i'm juli